Top Spot Becker’s Hospital Review has named Emory University Hospital one of its “100 Great Hospitals in America” for 2018. Emory is the only hospital in Georgia to make the list. The hospitals were selected for excellence in innovation, patient care, and clinical research. Of the 100 hospitals included in this year’s list, 52 percent are more than 100 years old. (Emory University Hospital was founded in 1904.) Also, for the seventh year in a row, U.S. News & World Report ranked Emory University Hospital the No. 1 hospital in Georgia in its 2018-2019 Best Hospitals Guide. (Emory University Hospital includes Emory University Orthopaedics & Spine Hospital and Emory University Hospital at Wesley Woods.) Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital ranked No. 2 and Emory University Hospital Midtown ranked No. 10 in the state. ■
Of the “100 Great Hospitals” included in Becker’s Hospital Review this year, 76 percent are teaching hospitals like Emory.
THE BIG IDEA
Turning Night into Day: Globalizing critical care Night shifts are tough on everyone, with shift workers having higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and sleep disorders. For doctors, nurses, and other medical
workers who pull nightshift duty, more than their own health may be at risk: fatigue can lead to inattention, which might diminish the quality of patient care. ATLANTA 7:00 PM But what if you could turn night into day? An Emory project developed by Timothy Buchman, founding director of the Emory Critical Care Center, and Cheryl Hiddleson, director of the Emory eICU (electronic Intensive Care Unit) Center, does just that, by sending medical workers to the other side of the globe. Using remote eICU technology by Philips, Emory Healthcare workers begin their day in a control room at the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, which is 12 hours ahead of Atlanta time. Emory Healthcare has had eICU technology for years, with specialized cameras, video monitors, microphones, and speakers at several hospitals. “Tele-ICU medicine provides
another option when a bedside intensivist is not available,” Buchman says. “Patients and providers benefit not only from having remote access to medical experts but also because these experts can be available around the clock.” The eICU program was shown to reduce costs and length of patient stays and helped ease the shortage of critical care intensivists. The Australia venture takes eICU care a step further: “We believe we can provide critical care to a patient no matter PERTH 7:00 AM where they are in the world,” Buchman says. Emory Healthcare providers come to work in Perth at 7 a.m. to cover the night shift remotely in Emory Healthcare ICUs (beginning at 7 p.m.) The time change reverses two of the largest drawbacks of critical care night staffing: a shortage of senior clinicians and the toll that working nights takes on caregivers and attention levels. “We tested the concept for six months in Sydney, and the benefits were immense for both provider and patient,” says Buchman. “The providers worked more efficiently and felt better because they were working during daylight hours, which reduced burnout.” ■
Autumn 2018
15